NeuroArm

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• NeuroArm
• World's first image-guided surgical robot to
  enhance accuracy and safety of brain surgery
• By Brent Weaver

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Practical Uses

• Capable of the following
• Biopsy
• Microdissection
• Thermocoagulation
• Blunt Dissection
• Grasping of Tissue
• Cauterizing
• Manipulation of a Retractor
• Tool Cleaning
• Fine Suturing
• Suction
• Microscissors
• Needle Drivers
• Bipolar Forceps

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Robot Equipment

• 2 Arms with 7 degrees of freedom each
• Made from titanium and plastic polymers
• 3rd arm with two cameras
• Provide surgeon with 3-D stereoscopic view
• Can be used as
• microscopes during
• surgery

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Robot Equipment Continued

• End effecter
• Capable of using several surgical tools
• Equipped with 3-D force sensor to give sense of
  touch
• Non magnetic motors
• Prevent MR imaging
• distortion

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Work Station Equipment

• Computer Processor
• Hand controllers for robotic arms
• Joystick to control cameras
• Several Monitors
• MRI 3-D images
• Microscopic views
• 3-D Stereoscopic
• views

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Work Station Capabilities

• Provide operators with 3 areas of feedback
• Allow operator to see tumors in 3-D
• Allows surgeon to feel pressure and texture
• Plays sounds
• Allows pressure sensor
• outputs to be displayed
• Controllers filter out hand
• tremors

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Work Station Capabilities

• All aspects of surgeries can be recorded for
  educational purposes
• Surgical boundaries can be programmed before
  surgery
• Surgeons can virtually simulate surgery before
  hand
• Fail safe switches prevent accidental movements
• Provides operator with increased accuracy
• Under 50 microns as opposed to 1 or 2 millimeters

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Limitations

• Patient is trapped inside of MRI
• Patient must be inside MRI
• for equipment to work
• Doctor is far away from
• patient
• MR Imaging is only
• almost real time
• Costs 24 Million

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Benefits to Patient

• Technical
• Optimize lesion resection
• Less tissue manipulation
• Optimizes surgical decision-making
• Quality
• Improved precision, accuracy, and repeatability
• Reduces surgeon fatigue
• Decreases surgical complications
• Decreases Surgical Morbidity
• Socio-Economic
• Faster operations
• Increases cell removal and thus increases
  survival times
• Less traumatic

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Sources

• University of Calgary
• http//www.ucalgary.ca/
• NeuroArm Navigating the Future of Surgery
• http//www.medgadget.com/
• Robotic Surgery
• http//biomed.brown.edu/Courses/BI108/BI108_2005_G
  roups/04/neurology.html
• Imaging Informatics
• http//www.imaginginformatics.ca/facilities/neuroa
  rm
• Hotchkiss Brain Institute
• http//www.hbi.ucalgary.ca/sections.php?sid5cid
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